Yeshiva University - Masmid Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 15 text:

When Dr. Belkin retired in 1976, eight months before his death, it became time to look for a successor. For the first time in its history, Yeshiva was able to have as its president one of its former graduates. Dr. Norman Lamm YC ' 49 was invested as Presi- dent of the University in 1977 and has since carried on the work begun by Dr. Revel and pursued by Dr. Belkin. Under Dr. Lamm, Yeshiva has continued its growth with the opening of the Cardozo School of Law, an extension of Dr. Belkin ' s dream. The academic excellence which YU has come to be noted for is noticeable in many ways. The graduate schools, in particular the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, are all of notable quality, and either have or are gaining the prestige that accompanies such excellence. As of 1977, YU ranked thirteenth in the United States in the number of research awards granted by the National Institute of Health, and in New York State, ranked second only to Columbia University. That is quite a long way from the simple alter- native to secular colleges that Bernard Revel had established.

Page 14 text:

When Dr. Belkin assumed the mantle of the presidency, he brought with him a blueprint tor the expansion of Yeshiva far beyond anything Dr. Revel had foreseen. Dr. Belkin was determined to provide the American Orthodox Jew with an opportunity for com- plete educational fulfillment. His grandiose plan took giant and necessary strides towards fruition in 1945, when the college Charter was amended to make the institution the first University m America under Jewish auspices, and in 1948 when it was accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. Yeshiva University was quickly becoming recognized as a quality educational facility. Under Dr. Belkin, the University continued its phenomenal growth in two areas. In 1954 Stern College for Women was establish- ed, offering the opportunity for educational tultiUment to Jewish women that Yeshiva College offered to men. By 1968 the enrollment in Yeshiva College had exceeded one thousand students. Additional- ly, Yeshiva University established affiliated graduate schools, of which it has eight today, with a total enrollment of over seven thousand.

Page 16 text:

However, doesn ' t this mean that Yeshiva has strayed from the path that Dr. Revel had charted for it? Not necessarily, if one looks closely at what Dr. Revel really had in mind for Yeshiva. When the great depression hit, Yeshiva College felt the crunch. To weather the storm Dr. Revel reached out to Albert Einstein, asking him to use his influence to help keep Yeshiva above water. In a letter to wealthy acquaintances, Dr. Einstein appealed for support for the school, and in one phrase succinctly captured the essence of what Yeshiva University has always been about: plead the cause of Yeshiva College with all my heart, he wrote, because it has a higher purpose as the protector of the Jewish tradition.